1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner cartridge and a toner refilling device for refilling a developing device with toner in an image forming apparatus such as electrostatic copier and facsimile apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A toner cartridge generally comprises a storing case having a toner dropping opening in the lower surface and containing toner inside, and a sheet-form seal member closing the toner dropping opening being peelably adhered to the lower surface of the storing case.
The toner cartridge is inserted and set in the storing recess of the image forming apparatus main body, and the seal member is peeled off. As a result, the toner dropping opening is opened, and the toner in the storing case drops in to refill the developing device of the image forming apparatus disposed beneath the storing case.
When the toner in the developing device is spent up, the toner cartridge is drawn out of the storing recess, and a new toner cartridge is set in the storing recess, so that the used toner cartridge may be replaced with a new one.
In the storing case of the spent toner cartridge, however, a slight amount of toner is left over, including the toner depositing on the seal member. Therefore, when drawing out the spent toner cartridge from the storing recess, the remaining toner drops from the toner dropping opening, and the dropping toner scatters about inside and outside the image forming apparatus main body.
To avoid this, it is proposed to use a toner cartridge provided with a slit for inserting the seal member in when stripping off seal member (Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Hei. 3-86371). In this toner cartridge, when the seal member passes through the slit, the toner depositing on the upper surface of the seal member is scraped off by the slit. In this toner cartridge, however, since the slit itself is opened to the outside, when drawing out the spent toner cartridge from the storing recess, the toner depositing on the slip drops and scatters.
Other toner cartridge has been presented (Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Hei. 3-56951), in which a cleaning compartment is provided adjacently to the end of the storing case, and a cleaning roller for cleaning the toner depositing on the upper surface of the seal member when peeling off the seal member is provided in this cleaning compartment. In this toner cartridge, same as in the toner cartridge disclosed in the Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Hei. 3-86371, when drawing out the spent toner cartridge, the toner depositing on the slit may scatter.
In a different toner cartridge hitherto presented, before drawing out the spent toner cartridge, a plate-form shutter member is inserted into the storing recess of the image forming apparatus main body along the lower surface of the toner cartridge, and the toner cartridge is drawn out in a state of preventing dropping of toner by the shutter member. When replacing the toner cartridge, however, the shutter member must be inserted, and it took time and labor in replacing.
The toner scatters away from the toner cartridge also when, aside from the case of drawing out the spent toner cartridge as mentioned above, the seal member is peeled off by mistake if a new toner cartridge is not set correctly in the storing recess of the image forming apparatus main body.